San Francisco Driving School

I wish there was an option for no stars, but I’ll give my instructor credit where it is due.
TL;DR: DO NOT USE THIS PLACE WHATEVER YOU DO
I tried to call a week in advance for a lesson the following Sunday, and it took THREE days before someone at the office picked up. We set the appointment and we thought everything would work out.
On the day of my appointment, the Manager, whose name I believe is Jonathan, called me 5 minutes before the scheduled time and said the instructor could not come at that time due to a sound the brake was making. He, Jonathan, said he would make a few calls in order to see if another instructor was available. A half an hour later Jonathan calls back and says it’d be best to reschedule closer to my test date, a fact I did not argue with, however, he proceeded to barrage me with «You should book now!» «Book your appointment now!’ and other similar phrases, until I said, «HOLD UP, let me ask my parents.» Jonathan then called me «difficult» and I called him out on his attitude and he then went as far as to verbally assault me and say «I’m not your parent, I don’t have to take this.» and hung up. I called back and said he was rude and yet another string of insults and didactic verbiage until I asked to speak to the manager (at that time I did not know he was the manager) and he said to have my parents call back. My mom called back and she got the same attitude until we were able to just book an appointment.
So, the one star rating is for:
–extremely poor customer service
–extremely rude customer service
–my instructor was late almost all three lessons
–one of my instructors was extremely rude as well
–fails to prepare properly for instructional appointments.

I finished my 6 hours of training long time ago and no one inform me about the certificate for drivers training until I made an appointment to dmv to take the driving test and found out that I needed that. Now I can’t take my test until next year. How fantastic is that???

Horrible. Truly an unprofessional school. My instructor Nelson scheduled a lesson at 1:30 a week in advance, and did not show up. I gave him a call, and he said he would call me in a half hour, because he was eating. He has no regards towards other’s schedules. Pick another school, this one is not worth the hassle that ensues.
Chip out an extra 30 bucks, and go to another school. Horrible experience.

I wish I had seen these reviews first before I even wasted my time trying to call them. The first time I called I made an appointment with them for the next day. Next day came… yet no one showed up at the door. I waited and waited and WAITED, 2 hours later, the guy called and said he was sorry the «computer system forgot about me». Seriously?! I was so pissed off. And he had the courage to even asked when was the next time I was free! I told him to forget about it, I’ll find someone else.
They are just not reliable at all.

The first lesson I had with them was great, the instructor was on time and everything went well, but the following lessons were not so great, not that instructor was not good, but he had an attitude and was late a few times. I think that their price for a lesson is quite reasonable, $ 56 for a two-​hour lesson, but you don’t get a full two hours though. I think that the instructor that I had was very knowledgeable and very good, I just didn’t like his attitude. He seemed to have a temper problem, which is not good when you are trying to learn how to drive. During my last driving lesson, there was a problem with the steering wheel, and it was extremely hard for me to make turns, and I tried to tell the instructor but he wouldn’t listen to me, he kept saying that there was nothing wrong with it. Luckily nothing bad happened, but I hated driving in that car. Thank God I’m done with this!
So overall I have a mixed review, I thought that the instructor was very good at teaching, but he has to work on his attitude problem. I can’t judge the whole driving school since I’ve only had one of their instructors, but I’d recommend them because I feel like I’ve learned a lot during my lessons.

i had a total of 2 instructors from this place.
the 3 stars is for edwin. BEST driving instructor ever. too bad he only works on the weekends. but he tells you when you are doing good and when your not, he would say ‘not quite’ and then corrects you. his methods work with everybody and not just himself. he encourages people and does not yell at people.
jennifer was my instructor on the weekdays. and she is so fucking rude. first of all, the way she teaches to drive only works with herself and not anyone else. when i had my lesson on how to back up, she was teaching me how to in her perspective. which is totally stupid because i am a lot bigger and taller than she is. when i was doing it her way and of course its wrong, she would be like ’ your too close/​too wide, dont you remember what i taught you.’ and this went on for a whole 15minutes. i was so close to crying and so i talked back to her. and she is like oh maybe every time you move your head its different blah blah blah. now i am in the process of changing instructors again and rescheduling my drive test to a week later because she is incapable of teaching me the correct way to drive.

I had a terrible instructor !!
Her name was Jennifer. First of all, she had a terrible thick accent and I could not understand anything she said. Also, she was yelling the whole time. Her voice was so loud and I had to cover my ears, when she was yelling at another student.
When it was my turn to drive she started yelling at me too. She wouldn’t tell me to change lanes or turn until the very end. When I hesitated to turn because she told me so last minute, she would yell at me «BAD, BAD YOU DON’T PASS TEST»
What was most irritating of all is that she used her cellphone for over 30 minutes. Not only she was yelling, but she was yelling in Chinese, I think, it was very distracting and irritating. It was also, it was scary because she wouldn’t answer any of my questions. Instead, if I made a wrong turn she would just take control over the vehicle with cell phone in her right hand and the steering wheel left hand.
DEAR DRIVING SCHOOL: THAT IS ILLEGAL!!!
AND THERE IS MY INSTRUCTOR TRYING TO TEACH ME THE RULES OF DRIVING AND TELLING ME I’M GOING TO FAIL THE TEST!
I had to ask her to hang up the phone because she was stressing me out.
The other student that we picked up after had no patience for her bad driving instructions and called her out immediately. He seemed very upset, but luckily they dropped me off soon after.

I hardly ever write reviews — but I had to this time — reason being that Joanne at San Francisco Driving School is by far the best driving instructor ever (and yes, I’ve had experiences with other driving schools/​instructors — and they weren’t as pleasant).
Joanne is sweet, calm, and extremely patient — at the same time, she gives you the best instructions, guidance, and tips on being a good driver and to pass your driving test!
I had a fear of driving — she has helped me overcome it! I couldn’t be more thankful to her… and yes, I passed the driving test at Daly City the very first time around :)
As for the San Francisco Driving School — they offer the best rate possible — $ 56 for two hours — pick up and drop off included — Can’t beat that eh!!!

Low prices right? As the saying goes, «You get what you paid for.»
I was NOT a fan of this driving school. When I first called up the school, they talked to me and answered my questions in a very polite manner. However, the driving instructor I took… HORRIBLE.
I was assigned to Jennifer. At first, she was very nice and taught me about road signs… But then when I drove it was nothing but screaming.
«YOU WANT TO HIT THAT CAR?»
«NO.»
“THERE YOU GO AGAIN, YOU WANT TO HIT THAT CAR?“
This was my VERY FIRST LESSON and that’s all I could hear her saying. I thought nervous drivers were welcomed… I was WELCOMED to be even MORE nervous. She was NEVER patient and when she tried to explain things, it NEVER made sense. Another girl was taking lessons with me and she too had the same issue… It took her and I about thirty minutes to understand how to pull over from this instructor…
At first, I thought it was the driving instructor… I was totally wrong.
I took lessons with another instructor associated with this school. His name was Sam Y. Liu. At first, it was okay. He never yelled at me or anything… But he also never taught me anything. Most of the time I just drove and made turns… He didn’t say anything so I assumed I did nothing wrong. Four lessons pass and I’m STILL doing the same thing.
I learned my lesson. I will not recommend this driving school.

I scheduled a driving lesson a few days before my driving test in Daly City. I wanted to review the test route and ask for tips on how to prepare for the test. The price was $ 28 an hour (I live in the Sunset), which is extremely reasonable considering I know people who are paying $ 50+ for their lessons. I had a guy named Ricky, who was pretty helpful. He took me around 3 possible test routes and told me what the test instructor expected from me, such as what the streets mph limit was. He also gave me tips on how to work on my backing up and what would happen if cars were double-​parked (signal, mirrors, look back, pass, signal, mirrors, look back).
We talked a lot about different things. He was really nice and easy-​going. He told me about the instructor who fell asleep (the one previous Unilocalers are talking about) and he said that guy has left the company awhile ago and now works for a different driving company. So don’t worry about anyone falling asleep on you while you drive!
Overall, the experience was good. I’m glad I had the lesson because I was able to become familiar with the route and do some last minute practicing. Needless to say, I passed the test. :D I promised Ricky I would make a Unilocal review, so if you’re reading this Ricky, here you go! Thanks for the help!

I took my first lesson with them. At first they had to keep rescheduling because things keep coming up, and they dont call you to let you know. So my advice is call them that same day just to be sure, you have to CONFIRM, or you will sit and stand there waiting.
I had Joanne, she was nice and very good as an instructor. I was pleased with the lesson.
They do have a 3 star customer service, I haven’t had anything really unbearable happen to me when dealing with them, maybe just a bit annoying but not unbearable.

Ok so I got my license like 2 years ago and I used this dirving school to get it. I just randomly flipped through the phonebook and found their number and I called them up. Prices were VERY reasonable. I was lucky and got a special for $ 25/​hr. So $ 50 for each lesson (2 hours each lesson). When the instructor he was very asian (not trying to stereotype). Now I never driven a car before in my LIFE so he just made me drive. I was scared as hell and when we were on the road HE FELL ASLEEP.
So when I got home, i called the manager RIGHT AWAY and told him i wanted a new teacher. So Jonathan the manager was my teacher. He was great, pretty blunt, told me what I did wrong. I think I took 4 lesson with hims and 1 with the other dude that keep falling asleep. and I got my license on the first try. I totally recomend them, just what out who you get. Make sure your teacher doesnt fall asleep.

What’s not to suck. The guy falls asleep while the person is driving. He is cheap for a reason.

I can not speak to the fact that this is neither a «safe», «fun» nor educational place to learn to drive a car.
I can however tell you 4 days ago I made an appointment for my first driving lesson (long story) for this morning at 11am.
They said they would come and pick me up and teach me some driving for 2 hours for a very reasonable price, and then drop me back off at home. I was really excited, and a little scared. Been a really long time since I’ve driven and I’ ve never had a license (long story).
So 11am comes.
and goes.
11:30 I call the place and ask where my instructor is. He asked for my name and number then told me he’d call me back.
This is how the call back went:
SFDS: Ya, uh, ya he’s got a flat tire and he’s on the side of the road. Just wait for him. Who is this?
MW: Oh. My name is Marcia and I have an appointment for today from 11am — 1pm.
SFDS: Are you a teenager or an adult?
MW: Adult
SFDS: Where do you live? Do you have a permit? Have you driven before?
MW: We just had this conversation 4 days ago, do you not have the information?
SFDS: UH, ya, ya. He’ll be there in half an hour. No an hour.
MW: I’m going to need to reschdule as I have other things I need to do today.
SFDS: I can have somebody there in 20 minutes. No. 25 minutes. No 35 minutes. NO 45 minutes.
I was planing on rescheduling because people get flat tires, things happen unexpectedly. But they were really unprofessional not calling me to tell me the instructor was running late, and now, at this point it was so evident that the appointment was never written down and you could tell from all his backpeddling that he was clearly lying.
MW: I will no longer be needing your services. Thanks.
(click)
Annoying, but mostly I am just dissappointed. I really wanted that driving lesson today.
They may be good… they may be bad once they actually keep an appointment. I will never know.